Patents

October 28, 2009

Our nearby SF-Oakland Bay Bridge is closed indefinitely after large metal hunks and poles—pieces installed over Labor Day weekend to fix another serious problem—fell onto rush hour traffic. Beyond making for a nightmarish commute, this closure and its background makes for several useful lessons for inventors and business managers. Among them:

1. Confidence sells. There’s now a growing sense that commuters hastily “bought” Caltrans’ (aka: California’s Department of Transportation) earlier fix because the transit agency so confidently told us it had quickly handled a major crack in the Bridge’s eastern span. With hindsight, this doesn’t necessarily reflect well on Caltrans, nor on area drivers. But it highlights one big point: if you’re confident when you tell people about your idea, product, really you name it, they’re much more likely to believe what you’re saying.

2. Quick fixes often aren’t. Edison didn’t invent the phonograph on his first day in the lab. Because creating an effective solution often takes time. So too does exploring alternative solutions, quality, accuracy, and triple-checking your work when the stakes are high. So as you create and pursue product success, take the time you need when you need it. Rushing is good... when balanced with the smarts to know when not to.

3. Ongoing maintenance matters. It’s not like Caltrans didn’t maintain our beloved Bridge. It’s just that we’re now seeing it could have maintained it better—much better—more proactively. The same is true for people with inventions and/or businesses: you need to keep investing your resources to maintain your patent and/or product line, as it will slowly but surely lose strength if you don’t do so. To be sure, it’s natural to want to pause and enjoy once you’ve achieved some success… but this is a sure-fire way to shortchange that success.

BTW, a few interesting facts about the Bay Bridge:

When opened in 1936, the entire Bay Area set out to cross it at the same time, leading the San Francisco Chronicle to report it as "the greatest traffic jam in the history of S.F., a dozen old-fashioned New Year's eves thrown into one.”

Before its latest closure, the double-decker bridge was handling roughly 270,000 vehicles a day, with an average of roughly 4,000 vehicles on it at any given time.

It’s officially named the James "Sunny Jim" Rolph Bridge, in honor of San Francisco’s 30th mayor, who would go on to be California’s 27th governor… and who, like our current governor, would also grace the big screen in a couple films.

September 16, 2009

David Kappos was confirmed last month as the new USPTO chief, aka: The Man when it comes to patents and other IP. This week, in his first big speech since taking office, he shared a few tidbits of note for everyone thinking of filing for a patent anytime soon:

- The USPTO is short on funds. Calling it “an elephant in the room kind of problem,” Kappos says his Office estimates a budget shortfall of $200 million in FY2010. (Yes, we know—it’s a little hard to believe when patent application and maintenance fees have gone up... but they haven't gone up at the same rate as the USPTO’s expenses. For this reason, he hinted at more increases). As a result, the USPTO will likely postpone much-needed but expensive systems upgrades except for those that are the most mission critical to daily operations.

- Despite the funding challenges, the new Patent Boss is determined to pursue reforms that will increase the effectiveness of patent examinations and decrease the amount of time required for examinations. And he seems focused on process now that systems appear on hold. Kappos indicated process reforms may well include giving patent examiners more time to do their job right the first time vs. having to inefficiently revisit each patent many times, creating incentives to encourage and enable quicker reviews of select patents, and establishing new procedures to quickly assess what are likely meritless patent cases. Kappos even suggested building a nationwide workforce of patent examiners.

- Kappos is particularly determined to shorten the review times in growth segments such as green technology.

- The USPTO and its parent The Department of Commerce view legislative patent reform as one of the highest priorities. As such, both are working closely with The Congress on Capitol Hill patent reform efforts.

- Who knew our nation’s top patent attorney apparently has a literary side? Making the case for his office and the changes to come, he quoted Mark Twain in saying “A country without a patent office and good patent laws is just a crab and can’t travel anyway but sideways or backwards” (from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, written in 1889).

BTW, we should note that this speech was at the annual meeting of the Intellectual Property Owners Association—mostly patent attorneys—so we’ve done our best to give the highlights without all the legalese. For folks seeking more detail (and all the legalese), click here for a transcript of Kappos' speech. And for background on Kappos, click here for earlier coverage in our July 2009 AbsolutelyNewsletter.

August 10, 2009

See ABC’s Shark Tank last night? The new reality TV show follows U.S. inventors and entrepreneurs as they go before a panel of highly successful business people (the “Sharks”) and pitch their ideas with aim to secure financing from the sharks.

Here’s what often unfolds: inventor pitches “brilliant” idea and a business proposal—ie: a 10% stake in exchange for $460K—only to be eaten alive by the sharks with their tough questions about the product, business model, sales potential and so on.

In other words, it’s sort of like watching a horror film: drama, pain, a few heart-warming moments for good measure... and sheer exhilaration. And while we’re not such big fans of the horror genre, we really liked Shark Tank for demonstrating a number of real-life realities for inventive people:

Business is a heartless math exercise. Time & again, the sharks did the math and said they didn’t believe the numbers justified investment. In a couple instances, one or more sharks countered with alternative financing terms based on what they felt a product or idea might generate. This led to on-the-spot negotiations with dollar amounts, percents, and controlling ownership positions flying back and forth. And while the TV show setting is contrived, the sharks' tough questions are not. Remember, you can put your heart & soul into your product, but outsiders including retailers and manufacturers will focus squarely on the return they’ll get on their investment. It’s not cold—it’s the cold, hard truth.

Greed is a very big turn-off. Just about every inventor and entrepreneur on the show asked for too much money for too little in return—like the guy wanting $1.2 million in exchange for a 10% stake in his highly questionable if not insane idea. Some of this was due to unrealistic expectations, but much of it was very clearly greed. And the sharks had none of it. In fact, the greed only served to inject tension from the start of the discussion. Knowing that your audience is treating this as an investment, and knowing that they’re usually quite savvy—the retail buyers we work with are very smart people—greed won’t get you very far. If you’re looking to go far, propose terms that help ensure all parties win; otherwise, you’ll likely be the loser, as was the case with some visitors to the Shark Tank.

Do you have a product or a business? The sharks noted a couple times that an inventor has a “product,” not a “business.” The difference: a single product is hard-pressed to stand out and often holds limited potential, whereas a business is one with broader scope and greater growth potential ongoing. To be sure, this isn’t always the case, but we appreciated the sharks counseling at least one inventor to license her product and move on rather than investing everything she has to proceed alone.

We could go on & on... but what did you think? And what did you get out of the Show?

July 15, 2009

Does a key really need its handle to be solid... or can that handle give you the hold you need while doubling as a keychain? Amron Experimental has designed with belief in the latter—its Split Key Ring is a key and key ring in one.

Amron is selling “blanks” (2 for $7) that can be cut to fit many leading household locks (we’re no locksmiths here, but a little digging indicates that the blanks work with Kwikset and Schlage locksets, among others).

We love the simplicity of this invention design. And we commend the designer for challenging decades of thinking on the role of the key handle. If only it could help us find our keys too.

(Side note: The inventor’s also selling a 30% stake in his patent rights, according to the Amron website. While this approach certainly isn’t right for everyone, it’s worth noting as one of the ways inventive people are looking for outside means to pursue invention success).

June 26, 2009

In honor of Michael Jackson, aka: the “King of Pop,” we wanted to highlight the artist’s inventive side: Jackson is the primary inventor named on U.S. patent 5,255,452, granted in October 1993, for a “Method and means for creating anti-gravity illusion.”

It’s true. Moonwalking thru the 80’s was one thing... but Jackson wanted to further defy gravity in the 90’s. This time around, he needed a back-up device to support him and his back-up dancers. And when the Gloved One found no such device to enable the moves he envisioned, he invented one of his own. The specifics:

Jackson wanted to include leaning far forward—far more than is humanly possible—into his dance routine.

The artist explored various waist cable support options but reportedly dismissed them because they didn’t work well for him during concerts.

Thus he created (or, more likely, imagined for others to subsequently build) a shoe-based system that allows a dancer to engage (and disengage) supports in the stage… and pull off some moves that were just plain awesome.

May 08, 2009

Vermont. Yes, Vermont! At least that’s what Forbes magazine says, if you measure inventiveness based on states’ patents per capita – in other words, each state’s number of patents relative to its population size. And what states round out the top 5?:

2. Idaho3. Washington4. California5. Massachusetts

Would you have called this? Let’s just say we wouldn’t have expected Vermont to lead the way, even though we’re big fans of the small state’s maple syrup and fall foliage.

Of course, these rankings are heavily skewed by the companies in the states, as they’re responsible for getting most of the patents. Vermont’s #1 largely in patents per capita because IBM employees in the state got 282 patents (in a state with just over 600,000 residents). Idaho – it’s home to Micron Technology, which picked up 828 patents last year. You can imagine how folks at Microsoft, HP and MIT helped round out the Top 5.

Interestingly, you see a very different picture if you look at the percent of patents granted to individual inventors in each of those states. How they compare:

Vermont: 3%Idaho: 6%Washington: 8%California: 13%Massachusetts, 10%

So does this make AbsolutelyNew’s home state of California really the most inventive? Or are our in-state neighbors simply the most independent? Or is this just a bunch of statistics that really means nothing when the most exciting conclusion of all is that folks in every state keep on inventing? What do you think?

May 07, 2009

The Show's wrapping up shortly. Before we start to dismantle our AbsolutelyNew booth and pack up all the cool new inventions we’ve showcased this year, we wanted to share a few key highlights, and lessons, from three days in the Las Vegas Convention Center:

Utility is big. At a time when some tradeshows are experiencing their own economic slowdowns, the National Hardware Show has been packed. Much of this can be explained by the fact that Tools & Hardware (and all the related categories like Lawn & Garden, Plumbing, Storage, etc) are necessities – not just nice-to-have items – for large numbers of building professionals and DIYers. The lesson: especially in times when money is tight, it will serve you well to make sure people see your invention as being indispensable.

Ladders & ShamWows galore. Across hundreds of thousands of feet of convention floor, we can’t walk a minute without seeing another company demonstrating its version of the Little Giant ladder or ShamWow. No joke – we’ve seen at least five booths showing their own version of that little orange shammy soaking up cola from a carpet. Too much of a good thing? We haven’t researched who has patents on what in these specific areas, but we do know retail buyers seem to be eating up these As Seen On TV hits. One of the key reasons is that these products and their benefits are highly demonstrative, making them perfect for 2-minute infomercials and tradeshows. The lesson: the more you can simply and effectively demonstrate your product, the more success you too may find.

Keep it concise. We saw lots of great products out there, including some very cool ones from independent inventors (kudos to the first-timers in the independent Inventor’s Spotlight section). Sadly, we also saw some inventors presenting so many features and benefits that nothing they presented stood out. Instead, we just got confused. Or overwhelmed by lots of small words in a booth. The lesson: like the demonstrations mentioned above, presenting your invention’s benefits in a very clear and concise way will help you stand out and shine. Saying too much, well, that’s no different than saying nothing at all.

BTW, are any of you tweeting on twitter? We thought about tweeting with tidbits from the Show… but thought we’d instead ask if you’re into it and then do it next time if helpful.

April 21, 2009

BusinessWeek recently featured an online slideshow collection of “ridiculous patents” unearthed by website TotallyAbsurd.com. The influential business mag implies that these are bad inventions, that the inventors wasted their time & money... and that they hurt other patent applicants by adding to the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office backlog.

Sure, it’s easy to pick on a vest designed with external, Habitrail-like clear tubing so the gerbil enthusiast need not leave home without his or her pet (pictured above, from TotallyAbsurd.com).

Yet we beg to differ with the BusinessWeek editors. Who’s to say what is or isn’t a good invention, or what will or won’t be market success, especially in this era in which a niche product can be a big seller online? Really, how many people could ever have imagined the success of the Hula Hoop? The much maligned but much purchased Snuggie? The Chia Pet (so iconic that it's now selling boatloads of a special-edition Chia Obama)?

If you believe in your idea, people you trust concur that you’re really on to something, and your follow-up research supports it… then go for it! But if your only supporter is your pet gerbil, well, do us all a favor and keep it to yourself please.

February 24, 2009

We’re very close – so close we can taste it – to launching a bunch of cool new items into stores. And needless to say, we’re psyched!

We’re also considering many other new products for eventual launch under the AbsolutelyNew brand name. And as we think about them, we thought you might want to weigh in with feedback too. After all, we’re talking inventive products, and you’re inventive people.

So if you’d like to see and share feedback on a few patented items that are even newer than cutting edge (what would you call that – ahead of the curve?), click here to check out our new AbsolutelyNew Labs feedback page.

We’ll refresh the products regularly if this is something you really get into.

February 04, 2009

You’ve absolutely got to check out The Lounger. It’s a, get this, magnetic levitation lounge chair that hovers where you want it.

We can’t take credit for working on this beautiful invention. But we’re still awed by it. And we wanted to share the love in case you’re as much of a sucker as we are for anything related to mag-lev (and lasers and robots and sticky notes). Too late for enjoying the Super Bowl, but with March Madness approaching... hmmmm.

Seriously, when was the last time you saw something this cool?

For details, click here to pop open British manufacturer Hoverlit Ltd.’s website. Kudos also to the guys at online magazine uncrate for finding this levitating chair.